MGM gambles on Macau

MGM MIRAGE becomes the latest gaming giant to try and lure the Chinese gambler on Tuesday, when the company opens its first casino resort outside the United States in the tiny enclave of Macau.

MGM Grand Macau is a $US1.25 billion ($1.45 billion) casino resort half-owned by MGM Mirage and half by Pansy Ho, daughter of the original Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho.

Its owners are desperate to tap the players flooding into the former Portuguese colony, in what is rapidly becoming the world's most lucrative betting centre.

"Macau is the most important gaming market in the world,'' Bob Moon, president and chief executive officer of MGM Mirage International, told AFP.

"What you have is a mass market and a very aggressive government that is trying to make this a true international destination. I believe that Macau would be a world-class destination of its own.

"It's certainly one of the reasons that we opened a casino here,'' said Mr Moon.